First. Something to amuse you:



Intended the position. Yes. But not one thing: I find it funny that the green bottle is facing the other way. XD


AND! As promised. :D

Title: Five Reasons Why Jun Loves His Bandmates
Type: One-shot
Genre: Friendship, crack, a bit sappy (because I'm actually a sucker for sappy stuff ;___;)
Characters: Arashi, Jun-centric (sort of)
Summary: If Jun has to enumerate five reasons why he loves being in Arashi, surely he has to include these.
Author's Note: Written loooong before I intended on posting this, although I revised and tweaked some parts. I actually forgot the reason for writing this in the first place, except that I wanted to highlight crack!Arashi and at the same time their tight bond as a group. So probably this is the most common storyline in the fandom EVER! Not going to deny that. Also, not betaed. (I don't have one, and actually I'm a beta myself, lol.)

There are many reasons so as to why Jun loves his bandmates. People outside JE or even outside the group may not be aware of most of them, but for Jun, it’s all evident why things work the way they do, especially when it comes to Arashi.


Reason # 1: As much as he hates to admit it, Jun has the most retarded bandmates ever.

“Uh.” Jun stares at what it seems to him a ‘wrestling match’ between Leader and Nino. He is the one assigned for briefing the rest of the boys today—like he always has been—about the incoming concert at the Tokyo Dome. He arrives a little late, only to see this.

“AHHHHHHH~!!” One can probably hear Leader’s yelping from within a 100-mile radius.

“Stop. Squirming. So. Much!” Nino complains, stressing every word with as much force as he has physically against the older man, as both of them struggle.

Jun tries to stop them by trying to interrupt, “Guys—”

“Are those two okay?!” Sho comes rushing in the room next, panting, and of course panicking, as he asks Jun this.

“Of course those idiots are,” Jun rolls his eyes as Sho continues staring in horror (and with so much concern, obviously) at the scene. “Speaking of idiots, have you seen Aiba-kun?”

“EVERYONE, LET’S EAT YAKINIKU!!” Aiba bursts out of the shower room inside the dressing room, and—thank God for towels—still dripping wet, he’s obviously just finished his usual last-minute shower. Aiba didn’t get the nickname ‘baka’ for nothing.

Still pinning Ohno to the ground, Nino grunts, “No way stupid, Jun-kun just arrived!”

“OW OW OW,” Ohno grunts as well. Nino is practically on top of him now, probably ‘winning’.

With one big sigh, Jun interrupts all the commotion, “If we could all just sit on the couch we’d all be done in twenty minutes.”

“Twenty?” Sho raises an eyebrow as silence suddenly emerges. They have never had a meeting done in just twenty minutes.

“YES,” Jun breathes out, “If you all promise to stay put and let me talk.”

Jun hopes at this moment that he’s already had his way. But like the usual, he fails miserably and horribly, much to his own frustration. Why wouldn’t he? During those twenty minutes, Jun keeps getting distracted by Nino, who does not ever stop throwing witty remarks here and there (mainly aimed at Aiba); by Ohno, who cannot tear away his hand over Nino’s knee and has that sleepy look in his face; by Aiba, who suggests the silliest stuff (like bringing live lion cubs on the stage perhaps); and by Sho, who constantly reminds everyone ‘not to overwork and get some rest’ before each concert.

As expected, it has not been the easiest twenty minutes of Matsumoto Jun’s life.


Reason # 2: Aiba is everyone’s energizer bunny, which oddly, Jun finds absolutely fascinating.

“YAY!” Aiba puts his face just inches away from Sho’s, who happily chows down his favorite yakitori. Ohno just looks at him, probably containing his laughter, or spacing out. “YAY! YAA~AAY!”

There has been many times Jun wanted to tell Aiba to shut the hell up, but no matter how many times he did, there is something about Aiba-chan that always makes him smile. Maybe it’s his infectious laugh and irreplaceable energy, who knows.

“Aiba-kun, would you shut up please. Thank you.” Of course, Nino never fails with his sarcastic quips, which also, never seem to faze the other guy.

“All right…” Taking his ‘energy break’, Aiba plops himself beside Jun, who awaits for him to say something after his remarkable showcase of enthusiasm. After all, even after concert rehearsals and meetings—at wee hours of the night—according to Aiba, his tension never ‘tires down’. That’s why sometimes Jun gets worried whenever they have a shooting and Aiba isn’t exactly jumping up and down. He’s always felt like the world would end if Aiba ran out of his bubbly giddiness.

“MatsuJun…” Aiba speaks again, still huffing and puffing. No one other than Jun seems to be busy looking at Aiba.

“Mm?”

Aiba slowly points at something on the table. “Why… aren’t you… eating your… your kara’age?”

“My what?” Jun always hates it when the conversation goes this way. He knows Aiba’s about to say something he has heard a zillion times since they became friends.

“Kara’age, MatsuJun! Kara’age!”

Of course, it’s Aiba’s ultimate favorite food, those fried chicken pieces, and no one really in the band understands why he loves it that much; he scolds everyone who doesn’t think the same way. But they can never blame him for that simple thing. It’s what makes him their dearest Aiba-chan.

“I ordered that for you,” Jun simply says, trying not to sound caring. He also hates it when he sounds that way. “That’s why I’m not eating it.”

“Really?!” Aiba must’ve regained a significant portion of his energy. His glaring changes suddenly into dreamily staring at his favorite dish. “Uwaa~ thank you!”

Jun smiles at the scene. He has to admit—there’s nothing more satisfying than looking at the smile and amazement forming on his best friend’s face.


Reason # 3: No one can see it at first, but Sho cares too much about his bandmates. (By the way, ‘too much’ is not an exaggeration.)

“Sho-chan,” Nino begins the conversation again right after talking about another round of concert rehearsals. “You’re staring at me again.”

Sho raises an eyebrow. “Are you eating regularly at all?”

“I’m eating just fine.”

“You look thinner than usual,” Sho says this almost too seriously it’s scary.

“Ask Aiba-kun!” Nino practically whines at that point. He then looks at Aiba for some sort of refuge. “Right!?”

“He’s right, Sho-chan,” Aiba defends as he devours his piece of chicken. “I’ve been paying all our bills just so he can agree into eating three plates with me.”

“Three plates?!” Jun’s eyes widen; he can hear Ohno laughing on one side.

“It’s not like I starve myself,” Nino rolls his eyes; as much as he needs attention (and sometimes affection) from his bandmates, Nino never really likes to get lectured at.

“Well, he has a point,” Ohno speaks finally—probably for the first time in half an hour—as he scratches his ears. “I always treat him too, and he doesn’t seem to cut down on his eating.”

“SEE?!”

Jun stares at Sho, who’s probably thinking of something to say back.

Jun has always admired Sho as his senpai, but as years passed, he realized that it’s not only because of Sho’s intelligence that made Jun admire Sho; but it’s also because Sho knows how to care for his bandmates.

And it’s true that just like Aiba, Sho’s attitude cannot be helped most of the time, and although a little embarrassed, Jun is somehow happy with that. Actually, Jun is glad that he’s not the only one who loves his friends so much, despite, you know, their retardery… or something like that. But altogether, Sho is simply a different case.

“You tell me everything that Ninomiya-kun eats, all right?” That isn’t a question.

“WHAT?!” Nino’s high-pitched voice becomes even higher, if that’s still possible. “You’re being ridiculous, Sho-chan! I’m not the only one who’s skinny anyway!”

Sho realizes what Nino meant. “Oh and take note of Matsumoto-kun’s eating too.”

“EH?” Jun wishes he could take back what he thought of Sho.

“Roger!” Aiba fakes a salute at Sho, while Ohno imitates him, trying so very hard not to snicker.

“Ah!” Sho suddenly remembers something. “What about you, Satoshi-kun? Are you eating well?”

“I’m eating my brains out!” Ohno proudly declares.

“Good.”

“E-Excuse me…” Jun wants to have a say about this, at least. When he catches Sho’s attention, he continues, “Uh, I think it’s silly to—and I’m sure Nino agrees with me—to monitor everything that we eat. And he’s right too; we never wanted to starve ourselves anyway.”

“That’s right, you know,” Nino, now calming down, nods as he crosses his arms on his chest.

“Fine,” Sho sighs. “Just don’t hesitate to tell me if you’re hungry.”

Nino smacks his forehead as a reaction, while Jun smiles, knowing even he cannot overcome the power of a mothering Sho.


Reason # 4: Nino may always convey his thoughts through sarcasm and through his sharp tongue, but he can—amazingly—keep the most important and personal thoughts to himself, even his love for his bandmates.

“Now you’re staring.”

Jun didn’t notice that he was staring at Nino; he’s subtly trying to make Nino say something. Nino’s been quiet ever since their way back to their rehearsals, while the other three preferred to catch even just a short snooze before they can go back to practicing again. “S-Sorry. Why aren’t you sleeping?”

Nino breathes out silently, “The trip’s just short anyway; I wouldn’t want my sleep to get disturbed.”

“Ah,” is all Jun can say. It’s one of those days when Jun wants to, but cannot, decipher Nino’s thoughts about important matters. Surely, Nino can comment on lots of random things: weather, work, family—heck even the most obvious ones: gaming and magic—but whenever something involves other people, he shuts his mouth in silence. But for Jun, silence always has meant something, especially if it’s Nino.

Jun knows he cannot force anything out of Nino, so he then resumes back to staring at the window, secretly hoping Nino will carry on with the conversation.

“Jun-kun?” Nino speaks again, thankfully for Jun.

“Yes?”

“Would you rather become something else?” Nino asks in a somewhat oddly serious manner.

“Eh?” Jun becomes surprised for a bit. It seldom happens that Nino asks things like this; it’s like, ‘voicing his doubts’. “What do you mean?”

“You know,” Nino stares at Aiba, who is leaning onto Leader’s shoulder. “Everyone of us has different endeavors we’re good at, like Sho-chan with his newcaster thing, Aiba-kun with variety shows, Leader with his multi-talentedness, and you with the…” his voice trails off.

“The what?” Then Jun suddenly feels he shouldn’t have asked that.

Knowing Nino, it’s probably intentional at the least.

Nino rolls his eyes, as if thinking about it hard. “With the way you undress in concerts,” he finally reveals with a huge blow.

“You’ve got a nerve, bastard!” Luckily Jun was drinking soda in a can, and so he throws it to Nino as an automatic response.

Nino ducks just in time, and the empty can hits the window. “I was kidding!” he snickers, biting his lips afterwards in an attempt to stop himself from cracking up. He then breathes out, “But seriously, Jun-kun, didn’t you ever think that way?”

Jun pauses. It is indeed one of the hardest questions he has ever heard, coming no less from the most puzzling person he has ever met.

Then it hits him. “Did you?” Jun throws back the question to Nino.

“Eh?”

“Have you ever thought of leaving Arashi…” Jun has never wanted to say it. “…for good?”

Jun then remembers the time when Nino did ‘Letters from Iwo Jima’. He surely felt happy for a colleague—a friend—that Nino’s talents were recognized by countries who didn’t even know who he was. But Jun has always dreaded the thought of Arashi coming down to four members.

“Are you kidding?” Nino scoffs. There’s that reaction again. “Of course not. How could I possibly find another four idiots all over again?”

Jun smiles, at last. Those five idiots have been fated to be together after all.


Reason # 5: Leader never acts like a leader, but surely enough he’s there to provide the likeable, peaceful atmosphere the group has maintained for almost a decade.

“Nino put my underwear in the toilet bowl!!” Aiba squeals at Jun, who is sitting beside Ohno at the time. It’s just another break from the rehearsals, yet, knowing Arashi, it has never been a ‘resting’ period for any of them.

“This is disgusting!” Nino mocks, sticking his tongue out and laughing with his usual ‘devilish’ one.

“Why don’t you get it with a mop or something?” Sho’s calm, but he surely doesn’t like where this is going.

“IT’S GROSS~” Aiba flinches, while Nino still cannot stop laughing. “Why don’t you get it?!”

“Why should I?!” Nino throws back at Aiba, swinging the mop in front of the latter’s face. “It’s your underwear!”

Petty fights have always been this playful, but chaos is still chaos. And Jun has always thought there is only one person to break out this kind of pandemonium.

Ohno’s the peaceful one—not in the way that he stops fights directly, telling those involved to stop—but in such a way that he can stop petty fights and arguments (and not make them worse, or more serious) without saying a word. Well, maybe he’ll say a couple of words, but that’ll be it. And of course, that never ceases to amaze Jun.

“Aren’t you going to do something about this?” Jun asks Ohno, who tries hard not to catch another snooze on the couch. “You are the leader, after all.”

“No,” Ohno says simply, miraculously paying attention to what Jun said. “Nino can’t be helped, and you know that.”

Jun looks at Leader’s peaceful expression as he watches the commotion. Jun is convinced Ohno is already planning to do something about it.

Or not quite. “When is our next day-off again?” Ohno squeaks over the noise.

“Two days after tomorrow,” Jun scoffs at Leader’s attempt to avoid work and go fishing instead. Apparently there’s always something he cannot understand about his bandmates; in Leader’s case, his addiction to fishing.

Ohno nods.

Nino suddenly points at Leader, “Leader will do it.”

He suddenly stands up (which obviously startles Jun) and says, “Give me the mop. I’ll get Aiba-chan’s underwear.”

Eyes widened, Aiba shouts for joy, “THANK YOU SO MUCH LEADER!”

“FINALLY!” Sho laughs at Aiba’s attempt to embrace Ohno (although it looks like he just tackled him). While Jun, well, he laughs at Ohno’s lack of personal objections.

No one is quite like Leader, after all.


And maybe, five reasons cannot cover everything Jun loves about his bandmates, his friends, his family away from home. More of those reasons are probably much shallower than these, but nevertheless, Jun is glad to have people like Aiba, Sho, Nino and Ohno around him. At least he knows he can always count on them, whenever the time, whatever the situation.

Arashi has always been Jun’s secret refuge.

Thoughts? Shoot me? XD
♥?

ETA: Remind me to post this to arashirabu. If ever, it'll be my first time to post something there! *crosses fingers*